AP Human Geography Population Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards created from student notes on population and demographic terms.

CDR

Crude Death Rate; the total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in a society.

Demographic transition

The process of change in a society's population from high crude birth and death rates and low rate of natural increase to a condition of low crude birth and death rates, low rate of natural increase, and a higher total population.

Demography

The scientific study of population characteristics.

Dependency ratio

The number of people who are too young or too old to work, compared to the number of people in their productive years.

Doubling time

The number of years needed to double a population, assuming a constant rate of natural increase.

Epidemiologic transition

Distinctive causes of death in each stage of the demographic transition.

Ecumene

The portion of Earth's surface occupied by permanent human settlement.

Medical revolution

Medical technology invented in Europe and North America that was diffused to poorer countries, improving medical practices and eliminating many traditional causes of death.

NIR

Natural Increase Rate; the percentage growth of a population in a year, calculated as the crude birth rate minus the crude death rate.

Overpopulation

A situation in which the number of people in an area exceeds the capacity of the environment to support life at a decent standard of living.

Pandemic

A disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects a very high proportion of the population.

Physiological density

The number of people per unit of area of arable land, which is land suitable for agriculture.

Population pyramid

A bar graph representing the distribution of population by age and sex.

Sex ratio

The number of males per 100 females in a population.

TFR

Total Fertility Rate; the average number of children a woman will have throughout her childbearing years.

ZPG

Zero Population Growth; a decline of the total fertility rate to the point where the natural increase rate equals zero.

Agricultural density

The ratio of the number of farmers to the total amount of land suitable for agriculture.

Census

A complete enumeration of a population.

Arithmetic density

The total number of people divided by the total land area.

Agricultural revolution

The time when human beings first domesticated plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunting and gathering.

IMR

Infant Mortality Rate; the total number of deaths in a year among infants under 1 year of age for every 1,000 live births in a society.

Industrial revolution

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods and led to unprecedented population growth.